WA targeted by Gadaffi scam

WA targeted by Gadaffi scam - The West Australian

Scammers are trying to convince West Australians to part with their money by claiming to be the daughter-in-law of the late Libyan despot Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who needs help retrieving $50 million from an Ivory Coast bank.

In a novel spin on the ubiquitous "Nigerian Prince" email scams, WA Consumer Protection officers are warning anyone who receives the email not to reply.

Purporting to be a plea from "Aisha Khamis Gaddafi the second wife of late Mr Mutassim Gaddafi the commander of Libya's elite Special Forces", the email asks the receiver to help her retrieve the money, in return for 25 per cent of the loot.

"May Allah grant you the heart to assist me and my son in this our trial period, please never you abandon me with my son just because we are Arabs," pleads the email.

WA ScamNet said the email was obviously a scam, and advised consumers to never pay money in advance to access funds being offered by a stranger, never use a wire transfer as a payment method if the receiver is not personally known to you and to never reveal personal or secure information, like a bank account or credit card details, to unknown parties.

"It's got spelling mistakes and dodgy formatting but they are obviously not the only questionable things about it - it's a scam. Hit delete!" they warned.